Joe Wagner: Axonify's Transitionary Weapon

Four years ago, Axonify was a small tech start up run out of an even smaller office, boasting a workforce of a dozen employees. In the Tech Hub that is Kitchener-Waterloo, they were blip on the map and had yet to appear on anyone’s radar. As 2016 comes to a close, they are one of the leading companies in the corporate learning space, and employ over 100 people, with the expectation to tack on 60 more to their team in 2017.

Even more encouraging than their rapid growth is the manner in which they have achieved it. The successful start-up out of Canada’s “Silicone Valley” have not sacrificed quality for quantity one bit since their steep expansion began back in 2012. Axonify has been growing their team by bringing a raft of capable and motivated individuals on board who have all bought in to what the company is working towards achieving.

The latest of these bright minds to Join the Axonify family is Joe Wagner, who has just settled into his role as Chief Operating Officer for the tech company. Joe has been tasked with the aim to organize Axonify so it can scale into a global enterprise. This is no easy task, but Wagner has a wealth of experience in roles similar to this one, equipping him with the tools to get the job done.

The veteran executive, with more than two decades of experience with large tech companies in the United States is no stranger to this process, and Axonify is confident that he has the skills to take them to the next level.

Wagner recently caught up with The Record, a Waterloo Newspaper to discuss his priorities for expanding the business on a global scale.

“You look at what is required for scale, scale comes from definable, repeatable and the ability to deploy the knowledge to do that across a broad set of talented individuals,” Wagner says. “So if you see an area that is reliant on one or two people, that’s an opportunity to scale. If you see a process that is not well defined, there is an opportunity to scale”.

He notes continued innovation, focus and recruiting top talent among his top priorities for scaling a company such as Axonify. But it is Axonify’s powerful message for potential customers, that Wagner believes will accelerate the company’s growth process.

“Knowing what your employees know at all times, that affects their behaviour and drives business results,” he says. “That combination of brain science, micro-learning, gamification and knowledge on demand is going to transform how they know, understand and maintain the knowledge level required to change behaviour.”